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Federal trial centers around use of pepper spray in Birmingham schools

SPLC questions use of pepper spray

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Updated: 6:59 PM CST Jan 20, 2015

Federal trial centers around use of pepper spray in Birmingham schools

SPLC questions use of pepper spray

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Updated: 6:59 PM CST Jan 20, 2015

Birmingham, Ala. —

A federal trial is now underway in Birmingham, looking at the use of pepper spray on students in the city's schools. The lawsuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2010 against the Birmingham Police Department.

An attorney for the plaintiffs argued that the use of pepper spray creates a major distraction in the learning environment and also makes some students fearful. Meanwhile, a defense attorney says there are situations where officers need to resort to the spray.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of current and future students in Birmingham city schools. The SPLC says the use of pepper spray violates students constitutional rights.

"The students who are going through this process, they are not large, scary thugs," according to Maria Morris, who represents the plaintiffs. "They're kids. They're 14, 15, 16 year old kids."

Lawyers representing the Birmingham Police Department say issuing a student a verbal warning when they are misbehaving only works some of the time. Defense attorneys say constitutional law gives the officers a right to use the pepper spray.

"They have to use pepper spray based on what they see, hear, and perceive," defense attorney Michael Choy says. "And the threat to the students, administrators, or themselves."

Attorneys for the plaintiffs called on an expert from the University of Maryland to testify, who stated in his opinion, it is rare for pepper spray to be used as a means of punishing students.

"But if they're yelling at you and you say, I'm not going to fight with you, you need to calm down, you need to stop talking this way," Morris explains. "They're going to run out of steam pretty quickly.

The defense says the pepper spray bursts are one or two short bursts, which allows law enforcement enough time to gain control of the situation without causing injury to any students.

"And so when a student is grabbing another student and they're in a fist fight, the officer can cause more injury by grabbing that student," Choy adds. "The officer is trained to take control of the situation."

Those representing the plaintiffs say there have been around 200 incidents involving pepper spray between 2006 and 2011. The defense disputes that figure, saying there have only been around 100.